Publisher's Summary

Psychology and Life emphasizes the science of psychology, with a special focus on applying psychology to students' daily lives.

Psychology and Life continues to provide a rigorous, research-centered survey of the discipline while offering students special features and learning aids that will spark their interest, excite their imaginations, and get them to think critically about the material. Over 200 research studies are spotlighted throughout the text, with the goal of showcasing the how and the why behind key psychological research. This textbook has not only withstood the test of time, it has kept pace brilliantly with the changing field of psychology.

Great Textbook but Disappointing Narration

What did you like best about Psychology and Life, 19/e? What did you like least?

What I liked best: "Psychology and Life, 19/e" is an excellent textbook, well written and organized, and is recognized as a classic text that emphasis the application of applied psychology in the daily lives of students.

What I liked least: In the narration of this text, the narration starts very nicely, but before the end of the first chapter, the narrator seems to unconsciously begin rushing through the material. From that point on, there are a some disappointments and distractions that may interfere with a listener's ability or desire to get through this text in its entirety: First, when this narrator starts reading in an unthoughtful manner, she sometimes speed-reads, simply reading words without thinking about the material and produces strange voice inflections. Second, in this narration, she often runs sentences together (does not pause between them), which interferes with discerning the meaning and makes learning from this narration frustrating. In my own experience, I had to rewind many times. I found myself wondering why the narrator didn't listen back to her own recording and make some reflections or get some feedback so that she could have corrected her style before publishing.

Any additional comments?

The narrator's name is Mina Sands, and she offers better performances in other recordings. I have another text she narrated, "Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach, 10/e" in which I am overall quite satisfied with because she mostly reads in a very favorable manner. When she does read with better intonations, rhythm, and appropriate pauses, she is pleasant to listen to, succeeding at conveying meaning and maintaining a listener's interest. Therefore, I would not suggest avoiding this narrator altogether, but I do recommend thinking twice before purchasing this book.